Gaddafi death under investigation, NTC says

AFP - Libya's new rulers said on Thursday they would prosecute the killers of ousted dictator Moamer kadhafi following the international outcry over the circumstances of his death.

"With regards to Kadhafi, we do not wait for anybody to tell us," said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the ruling National Transitional Council at a news conference in Benghazi.

UN seeks probe into death of Muammar Gaddafi As many Libyans rejoiced over the news that Muammar Gaddafi had been killed, gruesome mobile phone footage of his last moments has raised questions over how he met his end. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an investigation into the circumstances of his death. "On the issue of Kadhafi's death yesterday, the circumstances are still unclear," a Pillay spokesman, Rupert Colville, said. "There should be some kind of investigation given what we saw yesterday."

"We had already launched an investigation. We have issued a code of ethics in handling of prisoners of war. There were some violations by those who are unfortunately described as revolutionaries. I am sure that was an individual act and not an act of revolutionaries or the national army," the top interim official said.

"We had issued a statement saying that any violations of human rights will be investigated by the NTC. Whoever is responsible for that (Kadhafi's killing) will be judged and given a fair trial."

Ghoga, who spoke in Arabic and whose remarks were translated by an official interpreter, was responding to specific questions about Kadhafi's death and potential abuses.

His statement came as NATO weighed a possible new role in Libya following Kadhafi's controversial death, as France said the UN would vote on Thursday to end the alliance's mandate for an air war on October 31.

Global disquiet has grown over how Kadhafi met his end at the hands of NTC fighters who hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following a NATO air strike.

Mobile phone videos show him still alive at that point.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed his "disgust" at the global media for its graphic coverage of the ousted leader's death.

"Almost the entire Kadhafi family was killed. His body was shown on all the world channels. You could not watch without disgust," news agencies quoted Putin as saying.

"What is that?" Putin exclaimed. "They show a bloodied man, wounded, still alive but getting beaten to death. And they splash that all over the screen."